Thursday, November 22, 2007
Some days are grey
And so I'm back from Bangkok for the second time in 2 months. Well it was a trip to forget, there were so many disappointments but I should have seen it coming right from the start where our flight was delayed for a good 1 hour 30 mins the moment we entered the gates - which also mean we didnt even had time to meet Jeri who had come all the way from the west to see us off.
I guess some days are just meant to be grey afterall, this entire trip of 6 person seem like a triangle, we were more than often divided into sub groups of 3 - 2 - 1, and u get the picture i believe. Yes I was the '1' and being a positive person, i prefer to see it was an adventure and indeed it was. Going out alone, eating alone, traveling in a foriegn country alone can be quite a thrill although at times u have to watch your security and be cautious. I had my fair share of stories to tell from the times I travelled around alone....
1. There was this taxi driver who spoke extremely limited english and misunderstood that I wanted to visit a massage parlour and he started telling me enthusiastically that the place has big boobies girls and so on. As I'm not a total newbie, I know the roads and when I realized he wasn't going to the shopping mall I wannted, I told him he either make a u-turn or I get out of the cab. I won, and he reluctantly drove me to my shopping mall instead of the stupid massage centre.
2. I was in a libary of a university (yes u wont believe that) waiting for my friend to end her class when I found myself surrounded by hotties and all sorts of thai books, newspapers and magazines. I realized that I indeed resembles a thai as long I dont dress up too nicely. Nobody hardly blink an eye lid and the librarian actually spoke to me in Thai. Of course I couldn't understand her. I nod and walk off.
3. I had just had a hungarian dinner and was about to walk to a bar when it started to rain again. Running for the nearest shelter, my relief turned into irritation when I realized I had stepped in between 2 freelancers (streetwalkers). The first one only smile to me, to which I smile back (u have to smile in thailand). The second one smile to me and started asking me the usual questions....
(the conversation was long winded, i shall just write the key parts)
Her: Where u from?
Me: Japan
Her: wow, u first time come here?
Me: No, many times
Her: I like u, u cute
Me: (Laughing) haha no i'm just normal
Her: Where u going?
Me: To find my friends at bla bla bla place
Her: But now raining
Me: Yeah I know
Her: u go with me?
Me: go where?
Her: (pointing beside her) hotel
Me: -_- no
Her: Why?
Me: (pointing to my watch) no time, i have to meet my friends
Her: For short time only, very fast
Me: No
Her: (showing me the pitiful face and starting to grab my arms) Very fast only....
Me: Cannot la, my friends are waiting for me (push her hands away)
Her: But I like u
Me: But I dont like u...really cannot la
Her: $1500 bahts only
Me: No
Her: $1200
Me: (shakes head, continue smoking)
Her: $1000
Me: (looking at her) really cannot, i have to go after i finish this cigarette
Her: (sad look)
Me: (act dumb)
Her: ok u come with me, for 10 minutes only, to talk ok?
Me: Pay the hotel to talk to u? We talk here ok?
Her: no no very fast only (keep pulling me)
Me: (finished my cig) no i have to go already, sorry, u find other guy ok...bye (rush off in the drizzle to grab a cab)
4. I was sitting in a beer bar watching the world unfold in front of me. Yes the infamous naughty nightlife of Bangkok. The bar was in front of the enterance of Nana Plaza, 1 of the infamous gogo bar locations. There were freelancers all over the streets, peddlers, beggars and all sorts of amazing things going on, there was even an elephant! It was fantastic to do 'people watching' here. Beside me, there was a ang moh couple. After awhile I realized his girlfriend look really disgusted. When his gf went to the loo (i guess so), the guy started asking me the usual "where r u from" question. I found out he was Croatian. Then he said something......."I wished I had come to Bangkok alone without my gf....!" Enough said....
These 5 days passes alot slower than the previous 4 days I spent in September, maybe due to lesser visits of those tourists places especially temples which can be time consuming. I also finally took a TukTuk and the experience wasn't really nice, I figured out I could get lung cancer if I sat on this TukTuk everyday. The air from the exhausts of all the vehicles was very terrible!
I've also finally took a motorcycle taxi. It was a forced circumstance. I was later to get back to my hotel. I had only 10minutes to reach the hotel and the whole road was jam packed with vehicles. I could walk and would reach faster than taking a taxi but I would still be late. Thats where the motor cycle taxi came to my mind. I approched one, negogiated a price with him and we sped off. Yes I'm certain we sped, zig zag, s curves, u name it he did it and all these while I had no helmet on and I was holding stuffs with 1 hand and using my other hand to hold onto the back of the bike. My kness and legs were at times just inches away from bumping into vehicles. We cut through the entire traffic and reached my hotel on time within 4 minutes when a taxi ride would take about 30 minutes! Amazing!
I've also realized afew things from this trip...
1. Thai girls like my eyes. I get quite afew compliments from totally unknown strangers telling me I have nice/beautiful eyes. To which I said Khop Kun Krup (thank u)
2. Taxi drivers will always try to get u to those dirty massage parlours where u will almost certainly get ripped off. If u have a girl with u, they will try to take u to some gems shop instead.
3. Thai people love to live together in big groups. Thy fear being lonely.
4. Thai waitress/waiters are often too eager to serve tourists. Imagine getting to a restaurant, sitting down and all the waitress and waiter start surrounding u, waiting for u to order when u have not even looked at the menu!
5. 85% of the Thai uni school girls will put many Singapore girls to shame in terms of appearance.
6. There is no such thing as green tea in clubs. I once mentioned about mixing green tea with chivas or other alcohol and my friend gave me the "eeeks" look. Soda water rules in Thailand :)
7. In the Cinema before the movie starts, everyone have to stand up when they place a slideshow of the Thai king and the national anthem. Imagine standing up to sing Majuah Singapura and watching a slideshow of Lee Kwan Yew before every show. Cool!
I shall not go into further details of the trip. I believe there will be better ones worthly of mentioning in full coming up. The fact that the total number of pictures I snapped for this trip was just about 50 or 60 says it all. It was a very disappointing trip for a number of reasons.
I will be back for sure, within 2 or 3 months. And for now, I shall look forward to HongKong!
Hotel Lobby
Makan area
The streets of BKK
We found this in a taxi!
My new hugo boss fragance
Lunch at Zen Japanese restaurant - a must try!
Chinatown the only place u can find people speaking chinese
Outside one of the many medical halls
On the streets of Chinatown
Dino have lousy stamina...
Outside Siam Central World
Buddhists shrines
Vespa aplenty outside MBK
My first movie in BKK! Hey night shows costs only $5 SGD there....damn..
Some Thai dancers in the clubs
Dino's prize for the night....short lived joy :p
I love BKK t-shirts
Hehe
1 of my Thai friends, doesn look Thai does she?
1 of the university in BKK
1 of the most infamous naught nightlife places - Soi Cowboy
Thats all for now folks. :)
And so I'm back from Bangkok for the second time in 2 months. Well it was a trip to forget, there were so many disappointments but I should have seen it coming right from the start where our flight was delayed for a good 1 hour 30 mins the moment we entered the gates - which also mean we didnt even had time to meet Jeri who had come all the way from the west to see us off.
I guess some days are just meant to be grey afterall, this entire trip of 6 person seem like a triangle, we were more than often divided into sub groups of 3 - 2 - 1, and u get the picture i believe. Yes I was the '1' and being a positive person, i prefer to see it was an adventure and indeed it was. Going out alone, eating alone, traveling in a foriegn country alone can be quite a thrill although at times u have to watch your security and be cautious. I had my fair share of stories to tell from the times I travelled around alone....
1. There was this taxi driver who spoke extremely limited english and misunderstood that I wanted to visit a massage parlour and he started telling me enthusiastically that the place has big boobies girls and so on. As I'm not a total newbie, I know the roads and when I realized he wasn't going to the shopping mall I wannted, I told him he either make a u-turn or I get out of the cab. I won, and he reluctantly drove me to my shopping mall instead of the stupid massage centre.
2. I was in a libary of a university (yes u wont believe that) waiting for my friend to end her class when I found myself surrounded by hotties and all sorts of thai books, newspapers and magazines. I realized that I indeed resembles a thai as long I dont dress up too nicely. Nobody hardly blink an eye lid and the librarian actually spoke to me in Thai. Of course I couldn't understand her. I nod and walk off.
3. I had just had a hungarian dinner and was about to walk to a bar when it started to rain again. Running for the nearest shelter, my relief turned into irritation when I realized I had stepped in between 2 freelancers (streetwalkers). The first one only smile to me, to which I smile back (u have to smile in thailand). The second one smile to me and started asking me the usual questions....
(the conversation was long winded, i shall just write the key parts)
Her: Where u from?
Me: Japan
Her: wow, u first time come here?
Me: No, many times
Her: I like u, u cute
Me: (Laughing) haha no i'm just normal
Her: Where u going?
Me: To find my friends at bla bla bla place
Her: But now raining
Me: Yeah I know
Her: u go with me?
Me: go where?
Her: (pointing beside her) hotel
Me: -_- no
Her: Why?
Me: (pointing to my watch) no time, i have to meet my friends
Her: For short time only, very fast
Me: No
Her: (showing me the pitiful face and starting to grab my arms) Very fast only....
Me: Cannot la, my friends are waiting for me (push her hands away)
Her: But I like u
Me: But I dont like u...really cannot la
Her: $1500 bahts only
Me: No
Her: $1200
Me: (shakes head, continue smoking)
Her: $1000
Me: (looking at her) really cannot, i have to go after i finish this cigarette
Her: (sad look)
Me: (act dumb)
Her: ok u come with me, for 10 minutes only, to talk ok?
Me: Pay the hotel to talk to u? We talk here ok?
Her: no no very fast only (keep pulling me)
Me: (finished my cig) no i have to go already, sorry, u find other guy ok...bye (rush off in the drizzle to grab a cab)
4. I was sitting in a beer bar watching the world unfold in front of me. Yes the infamous naughty nightlife of Bangkok. The bar was in front of the enterance of Nana Plaza, 1 of the infamous gogo bar locations. There were freelancers all over the streets, peddlers, beggars and all sorts of amazing things going on, there was even an elephant! It was fantastic to do 'people watching' here. Beside me, there was a ang moh couple. After awhile I realized his girlfriend look really disgusted. When his gf went to the loo (i guess so), the guy started asking me the usual "where r u from" question. I found out he was Croatian. Then he said something......."I wished I had come to Bangkok alone without my gf....!" Enough said....
These 5 days passes alot slower than the previous 4 days I spent in September, maybe due to lesser visits of those tourists places especially temples which can be time consuming. I also finally took a TukTuk and the experience wasn't really nice, I figured out I could get lung cancer if I sat on this TukTuk everyday. The air from the exhausts of all the vehicles was very terrible!
I've also finally took a motorcycle taxi. It was a forced circumstance. I was later to get back to my hotel. I had only 10minutes to reach the hotel and the whole road was jam packed with vehicles. I could walk and would reach faster than taking a taxi but I would still be late. Thats where the motor cycle taxi came to my mind. I approched one, negogiated a price with him and we sped off. Yes I'm certain we sped, zig zag, s curves, u name it he did it and all these while I had no helmet on and I was holding stuffs with 1 hand and using my other hand to hold onto the back of the bike. My kness and legs were at times just inches away from bumping into vehicles. We cut through the entire traffic and reached my hotel on time within 4 minutes when a taxi ride would take about 30 minutes! Amazing!
I've also realized afew things from this trip...
1. Thai girls like my eyes. I get quite afew compliments from totally unknown strangers telling me I have nice/beautiful eyes. To which I said Khop Kun Krup (thank u)
2. Taxi drivers will always try to get u to those dirty massage parlours where u will almost certainly get ripped off. If u have a girl with u, they will try to take u to some gems shop instead.
3. Thai people love to live together in big groups. Thy fear being lonely.
4. Thai waitress/waiters are often too eager to serve tourists. Imagine getting to a restaurant, sitting down and all the waitress and waiter start surrounding u, waiting for u to order when u have not even looked at the menu!
5. 85% of the Thai uni school girls will put many Singapore girls to shame in terms of appearance.
6. There is no such thing as green tea in clubs. I once mentioned about mixing green tea with chivas or other alcohol and my friend gave me the "eeeks" look. Soda water rules in Thailand :)
7. In the Cinema before the movie starts, everyone have to stand up when they place a slideshow of the Thai king and the national anthem. Imagine standing up to sing Majuah Singapura and watching a slideshow of Lee Kwan Yew before every show. Cool!
I shall not go into further details of the trip. I believe there will be better ones worthly of mentioning in full coming up. The fact that the total number of pictures I snapped for this trip was just about 50 or 60 says it all. It was a very disappointing trip for a number of reasons.
I will be back for sure, within 2 or 3 months. And for now, I shall look forward to HongKong!
Hotel Lobby
Makan area
The streets of BKK
We found this in a taxi!
My new hugo boss fragance
Lunch at Zen Japanese restaurant - a must try!
Chinatown the only place u can find people speaking chinese
Outside one of the many medical halls
On the streets of Chinatown
Dino have lousy stamina...
Outside Siam Central World
Buddhists shrines
Vespa aplenty outside MBK
My first movie in BKK! Hey night shows costs only $5 SGD there....damn..
Some Thai dancers in the clubs
Dino's prize for the night....short lived joy :p
I love BKK t-shirts
Hehe
1 of my Thai friends, doesn look Thai does she?
1 of the university in BKK
1 of the most infamous naught nightlife places - Soi Cowboy
Thats all for now folks. :)
posted by mango at 8:46 PM
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